


Liquid Courage

by Spockykins



Series: We Opened The Vault And All We Got Was This Dumb T-Shirt [2]
Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Best Friends, Crack, Drunken Shenanigans, Drunkenness, Fluff, M/M, Rhys as Jack's PA, Sleepiness, bros, shit idk dude, uhhh tags...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-05-16 14:09:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,791
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14812844
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spockykins/pseuds/Spockykins
Summary: Rhys promised his best friends that he and Jack will meet them for drinks.Except they were late and the party started without them.Thankfully, there's always time to catch up!





	Liquid Courage

**Author's Note:**

> based on an experience i saw at the bar.   
> it was really magical. some guys being dudes

Rhys wasn’t drunk. Definitely not drunk. 

When they had finished work, it was later than usual. Around 7 pm. The thing was, Vaughn and Yvette had planned on meeting Rhys and his boyfriend and boss, Handsome Jack at the “Down Under” bar almost two hours ago. 

Yes, boyfriend! Rhys was dating the CEO of Hyperion. That was just… so good. It would literally never get old. It’s like, Rhys had those posters on the wall of Handsome Jack being awesome and kicking ass and stuff and now he was dating him. People always say don’t meet your heroes, but like? Rhys was literally boning him and everything was great.

Okay anyways, Rhys and his _boyfriend_ made their way to “Down Under,” the Elpis themed bar on one of the lower decks. The exterior was rather nondescript, one small sign towards the bottom of the building that read it’s name. The wooden panelling around the door was painted black, which was rare since trees didn’t exactly grow on Helios. The doors were automatic, looking kinda sci-fi-ish.

Despite the rather shady exterior, it was actually a really nice bar, which was surprising given the low price of their drinks. The lighting was low and blue, the walls painted to look like the night sky. The booths were all swirling rainbows, resembling galaxies. All of the drinks were moon themed, and the shots were called MoonShots. Clever, right?

Anyways, they got there around 7:30 pm, a whole two and a half hours late. Lucky for Rhys, Vaughn and Yvette had already started drinking, sitting at the dark marble bar on stools that looked like little moons. And they drank like… a lot. So they get there, totally sober, and Vaughn is almost slurring. 

So, naturally, Rhys’s best bro bought his best bro and his best bro’s boyfriend a bunch of Moonshots. Ten, to be exact. Except, Jack kinda has an image to uphold? So Jack just… _gave_ all of his shots to Rhys. Which, in hindsight, kinda makes this whole thing his fault, right?

Okay, probably not. Rhys downed the ten MoonShots in a startling half an hour, then ordered a MoonBeer. Okay, not all of the names were clever. They had a cocktail called “Stanton’s Liver Failure.” A little problematic, but like also funny as hell. 

Rhys was muscular, therefore he had a really high alcohol tolerance. 

...Or that’s what he wished was the truth, but in reality Rhys had no muscle and only a little bit of fat, so one shot would’ve made him drunk. 

Except he had ten, then whatever drinks he’d ordered when no one was paying attention and trying to stop him. But the only person that was really trying to watch what Rhys drank was Jack? And at the same time Vaughn was trying to get him to drink more... So, long story equally long, everyone was plastered except Jack. 

Yvette was sober enough to still have her brain intact, but Vaughn and Rhys were actually gone. Jack watched the two, completely sober, with extreme amusement. 

“No dude, I don’t think it’s there.” Vaughn insisted seriously. He opened his mouth again, face contorted with confusion. 

“Bro, I would literally never lie to you. Your tongue his right there.” Rhys reached his hand forward to poke it, but Jack touched his arm to stop him, trying to keep his snickering quiet. 

“I know, bro. I trust you…” Vaughn closed his mouth and finished his beer, putting the glass down on the table just a liiittle bit too hard. The sound caused Yvette, who was dozing off, to jump and wake up. 

Yvette was suddenly fixated on the blue glass, staring at it. “Hey guys, did you see that the glass has those little holey bump thingies? Like the moon has…” 

The three men that she was with turned to stare at the glass. It didn’t hold Jack’s interest for very long, but both Vaughn and Rhys were enraptured. 

“Vett, you’re like… a detective or something…” Vaughn mumbled, looking at the glass. 

Rhys nodded in agreement, resting his hot cheek onto the cool marble bartop. He looked at Vaughn’s face through the glass of the cup, giggling at it’s distortion. “Hey, do you guys think that Jack’s sweater is ugly?” 

Jack bristled at that, while Yvette and Vaughn covered their mouths to muffle laughter. “What do you mean by that, kitten? You hate my sweater?”

Rhys gasped, sitting up. “Jack!!! No!” he looked over to his boyfriend, grabbing at the front of his sweater and pressing his face into his broad shoulder. “No!! I don’t think that… at all! I love your sweater. I heard s-” He pressed his face into the sweater more firmly, his speech unintelligible. 

“What was that last bit, Rhys? Can’t hear you through the ugly yellow sweater.” Yvette grinned at Jack, who gaped at her in disappointment. She laughed and leaned back further on the stool, almost tipping over and falling onto the ground. She caught herself at the last second. 

Jack snorted at her almost fall, then mumbled, “Rude…” He rubbed Rhys’s back to encourage him to sit up more. Rhys didn’t end up moving as Jack had anticipated. Instead, he scooted his stool closer to Jack’s and held onto his arm. 

“I love your sweater, it’s really soft and it’s yellow.” Rhys mumbled, before getting distracted. He looked at Vaughn, who was trying to stand up. “Bro! Where are you going?” 

Vaughn looked over at Rhys, reaching out his hand. His face looked pleading. “I gotta pee, bro. Come with me.” 

Jack looked a little repulsed, and decided to say as such. “What the heck, muscle? That’s a real weird thing to ask someone. You can go by yourself, it’s not that ha-” 

But that’s when he noticed that Rhys had already taken his best bro’s hand. “Hell yeah, I’ll go pee with you, bro. Had to go anyways.” 

Jack stared at them in astonishment, while Yvette hit on the bartender as she ordered another drink. Rhys and Vaughn walked hand and hand to the bathroom, Vaughn leading the way through the brightly lit dance floor. 

The fact that neither of them liked dancing only brought them together, especially on nights like tonight when they decided to hit the bars. Yvette was actually a huge fan of dancing, and that was how she met her current girlfriend. Dancing at a bar while Vaughn and Rhys giggled drunkenly like morons in a booth. 

Vaughn pushed open the door, the bright light in the rather spacious and clean bathroom mildly sobering. The bathroom almost teleported them to another bar. The walls were white with dark blue linoleum flooring. He and Rhys both walked to the urinals to… relieve themselves. Vaughn was a weirdo, so he decided to make conversation as they peed. 

“I gotta tell ya, Rhys.” He sighed and looked him in the eye. “You upset me earlier today. You know, the whole “being late without telling me” thing? Made me sad. Like… not even a text…”

Rhys made eye contact with Vaughn for a second, thinking that he was maybe drunk enough that maintaining eye contact while peeing wouldn’t be weird. But no, it was still reaaaally fucking uncomfortable. 

He waited until he was done before answering. “Oh, man... Vaughn, I’m really sorry.” He walked to the sink and started washing his hands, starting to feel tired. He probably just needed another drink, it really wasn’t that late. “I got so busy with work, Jack and I have been doing a lot of stuff for the company, and-” 

Vaughn cut him off, walking to the sink next to him. “That’s just it, bro. You’ve been spending a lot of time with Jack and… I don’t know…” He trailed off, shaking the water from his hands. Those air dryer things were just filthy. “Just forget I said anything. I’m probably being dramatic.” 

Rhys yanked Vaughn into a tight hug. “No! You’re not being dramatic. I love you, bro. You’re my number one.” He pressed his face into the shorter man’s shoulder. “I’m sorry I’ve been so… busy lately. Lemme make it up to you.” 

Vaughn opened his mouth to protest that it wasn’t a big deal, it wasn’t important, or whatever, but Rhys grabbed his hand and dragged him out of the bathrooms before he could say another word. He lead Vaughn back through the crowd, weaving through the drunken dancers. 

He finally reached their seats, then placed one hand on the bar. He tried to hoist himself up, but Jack pulled him back to the ground by the back of his shirt. Rhys ignored the pull, trying to lift himself onto the counter once again.

“That’s a bad idea, cupcake. You’re drunk.” He reminded him gently, giving him a stern look that read _do it again and I will tape you to the chair._

Rhys whined and turned, still very determined. “Fine!” He finished his cocktail and cleared his throat. With the most authoritative voice he could muster while this drunk, he shouted, “Attention! Everyone! Please, may I have your attention!” 

Rhys was known to not only be the second most important person on Helios. So, even before he and Jack were together, his presence drew a lot of attention and all employees were eager to please him. But now, he was dating _the_ Handsome Jack and he was in the bar with him, so the music stopped and everyone went silent and turned to look at Rhys with an attentive gaze. 

“Oh! Hi everyone. I hope everyone is having a good night…” He rambled a little nervously. The liquid courage was not enough to suddenly make Rhys a charismatic speaker, so he decided to do what was easier. He turned to Vaughn, and opened his mouth to give the best speech ever to his best bro. 

Except, he was hammered. So at first, he just hiccuped. He giggled and covered his mouth, then cleared his throat and started again. “Bro, we were talking in the bathroom and I’m sorry I’ve been a big jerk to you. I don’t remember what you said I did, tbh,” yeah, he said the letters tbh. What a jackass. “But I do remember feeling guilty about it. So whatever I did, can you please forgive me?” 

Vaughn looked a little skeptical of his apology, but Yvette was literally in tears. “That was beautiful…” she whispered to herself, then leaned forward to touch Vaughn’s shoulder. “Come on, Vaughn. Do it!” 

The entire bar was enraptured. They had no idea what was going on, but honestly neither did Jack, Rhys, Yvette, or Vaughn. There was a soft sniffle in the back of the room because of Rhys’s kick ass speech, then one large man started chanting. 

“Forgive him! Forgive him!” After a moment a few more joined in on the chanting, some people clapping. 

 

Rhys seemed to have forgotten they had an audience, his face flushing red with embarrassment. Well, it was too late now. He was making a very public apology the drunkest he’s been in years and he didn’t even remember what he was apologizing for. 

_I’m all in,_ Rhys supposed. He dropped to a knee, taking Vaughn’s hands. “Come on, forgive me, bro.”

The entire bar was cheering them on, begging on Rhys’s behalf for forgiveness. The bartender was filming the entire disaster from her position behind the bar. 

Suddenly, Jack started chanting that Vaughn _shouldn’t_ forgive Rhys. “Don’t do it Vaughn! He’s hurt you so badly already! You know he’ll do it again!” 

Jack clearly didn’t know that he was such a major contributor to the problem. Honestly, drunk Vaughn pinned the entire problem on Jack, anyways. So, Jack’s insistence that Rhys didn’t deserve forgiveness only made Vaughn want to forgive his best bro more. 

Rhys turned to look at his boyfriend, scandalized. “Babe! What the hell!” he held Vaughn’s hand tighter, craving emotional support. “You’re the worst!” 

Vaughn pulled Rhys off the dirty floor and into a tight hug. The entire bar, including Jack and the bartender, erupted into cheers. Someone was so touched by their level of broness that they bought Vaughn and Rhys drinks. 

Vaughn had forgotten about Jack’s rather dramatic betrayal. But Rhys sat in his seat next to his boyfriend and sipped his bright blue, way too sweet cocktail with an unhappy expression. 

“Aw come on cupcake, someone had to play devil’s advocate there.” He wrapped a strong arm around his boyfriend’s shoulder, kissing Rhys’s messy hair. “You know I love you.” 

Rhys grumbled something and leaned into the embrace, figuring there were probably more relevant things to pick fights about, like the secrets he keeps from his PA relating to eridium mining on Pandora and what they’re really for… but now is not the time for that. Now was the time for being drunk and happy. 

Vaughn sat down in his stool, laughing at Rhys’s grumpy expression, which, in turn, made the grumpy expression disappear. 

“I’m kinda tired…” Rhys mumbled, stretching out his long limbs. He pushed his hair out of his face, long past caring of whether it looked good or not. His gaze landed on Vaughn, who nodded and yawned.

“I’m tired too. I have work early tomorrow…” He trailed off, pressing his warm and reddened cheek against the cool marble of the bar. 

Rhys yawned too, cursing the action. “Hey did you know that yawning is caused by needing oxygen in your brain?” Jack perked up, thinking maybe Rhys was sobering up. “Cuz you get tired and your brain needs air or it doesn’t work.” Nope, that’s still gibberish. 

Vaughn nodded thoughtfully, although it was clear he hadn’t been listening. “I want to go to bed.” He tapped Yvette’s shoulder without lifting his face off of the bar. “Come on, let’s go.” 

But… she was asleep. Vaughn shook her shoulder, then she bolted upright and blinked wildly. 

“Oh man. Don’t tell anyone I fell asleep, please.” She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes and stretched out, . “Are we leaving?” 

“Wow. You guys are an absolute hoot.” Jack said sarcastically, standing up. “Yes, cupcake, we are all going to go back to our rooms and drink a glass of water.” Despite his words resembling that of a mother hen, Jack only helped Rhys to his feet and wrapped a firm arm around his waist. 

Vaughn stood first, taking Yvette’s hand and helping her to her feet. She seemed more tired than drunk, while Vaughn was the opposite. They supported each other as Jack lead the group out the door and into the outside, which was really bright. 

“Ugh, this is really bright.” Rhys complained, pressing his face into Jack’s arm. Vaughn and Yvette both murmured agreements. 

For the past few days, Rhys had been staying at Jack’s apartment instead of his own. Jack’s apartment was in the eastern section of Helios, while the rest of the housing units were in the western side. Chances were, Yvette would sleep in Rhys’s bed and Vaughn would sleep in his own bed. Regardless, Rhys and Jack were heading the opposite direction. 

Normally, this would be where Rhys and his two best friends would have a dramatic goodbye where he hugged them both for too long and Yvette pushed them away and Vaughn was really into it… but Rhys was so _tired._ He haphazardly threw a wave towards his two pals, mumbling a tired farewell. 

Then, his feet were no longer underneath him… but he wasn’t falling. He was suspended by something that he soon realized were Jack’s arms. 

“Thanks babe.” He mumbled, thinking to himself that he was like… really tall? So he was probably sticking out from where Jack was holding him. Like a log or something. He was about the same height as Jack, maybe a little bit taller, so the sight of him curled in the CEO’s arms had to be amusing. 

He didn’t realize he was laughing until Jack asked why. Rhys also didn’t really register that he should answer, so he just dozed until Jack put him down. 

He didn’t really remember getting on the elevator or riding up to the penthouse. How did Jack get the door open when both of his hands were filled with a tired Rhys? Mysteries that would never be solved. 

Jack carefully removed Rhys’s shoes, tie, shirt, and jeans, leaving him in just his boxers. He stripped himself down similarly, laying beside his unconscious boyfriend and looking at his face. He wrapped his arms around Rhys and pulled him to his chest, not worrying about stirring him. Rhys, sober or otherwise, could sleep through a tornado.

“What a dork.” Jack mumbled before pressing a kiss to Rhys’s forehead.

**Author's Note:**

> oh also follow me on tumblr maybe


End file.
